The policing minister said she was aware of the “cost pressure” on police the XL bully ban had caused and wants to make sure forces get the funding to enforce it.
Police chiefs have warned that enforcing a ban on XL bully dogs is a burden on policing, with millions of pounds spent on veterinary bills and kennelling for confiscated dogs.
“This has been raised with me, actually, a few times, and it’s certainly something that I’m looking at and working with my colleagues in Defra on,” policing minister Dame Diana Johnson told LBC.
“But I recognise that’s another cost pressure for police forces, so absolutely I understand that.
“And as the police minister, I’m obviously keen to make sure that, you know, the police get the funding they need for these things that we’re asking them to do, because this is obviously quite a new development over the last few years.”
Since February, it has been a criminal offence to own an XL bully dog in England and Wales without an exemption certificate, meaning unregistered pets will be taken and owners possibly fined and prosecuted.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said this week that kennel spaces were “reaching capacity”, with costs “increasing by the day”.
The policing body said veterinary bills and the cost of kennelling banned dog breeds had risen from £4 million in 2018 to more than £11 million between February and September 2024, adding it can cost around £1,000 a month to keep an XL bully in kennels.
The NPCC said the figure is expected “to rise to as much as £25 million” for the period from February 2024 to April 2025 – representing a predicted 500% increase in police costs from 2018.
As well as the XL bully, other banned types of dog under Section 1 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 include the pit bull terrier, Japanese Tosa, dogo Argentino and fila Brasileiro.
Chief Constable Mark Hobrough, the NPCC’s lead for dangerous dogs, said the ban was placing “a huge burden on policing”.
He called for Government support to cope with the demand the ban has placed on police resources.
Mr Hobrough said conversations with Defra were ongoing but there was no formal agreement about providing additional funding to account for the demand.
Police forces seized 4,586 suspected Section 1 banned dogs throughout England and Wales between February and September 2024.
According to the NPCC, there were 120 dog liaison officers across England and Wales before the ban, with 100 subsequently trained, and a further 40 to be trained.
The NPCC said around £560,000 had been spent by police forces on staff overtime between February and September last year in relation to dogs.
Mr Hobrough said alternative methods such as out of court disposals would support police as court backlogs increase the burden.
The NPCC said forces in England and Wales seized and euthanised 848 dogs between February and September 2024 at an estimated cost of £340,000.
These were dogs which were surrendered to police by owners who had not complied with the ban, nor taken advantage of the compensation scheme.